


Taming the Tiger

by HighlandYorkie



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes (Downey films)
Genre: Bondage and Discipline, M/M, Psychological Torture, Slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-02-23
Updated: 2012-02-23
Packaged: 2017-10-31 14:46:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/345295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HighlandYorkie/pseuds/HighlandYorkie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Professor Moriarty sets out to tame his new assassin</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've always liked that idea that at the beginning of their relationship, that Moran was a brash, cocksure individual that pushed Moriarty to the limit of his patience 
> 
> Thus this little tale was borne.

The professor glared at Moran with an intensity the colonel had never seen before

“What were you thinking of” Moriarty snapped

“Sir, I-” Moran started to explain only to be cut off by his employer

“Clearly, you were not”

The professor started to pace his hands held behind his back, his head moving from side to side like a coiled snake about to strike.

“Your overconfidence and lack of patience is most unbecoming and you disobeyed a direct order” Moriarty was beyond furious but he managed to keep his voice low and steady.

“Sir” Moran bowed his head, uncertain of what the professor had in store for him, for some reason Moran found it difficult to read the professor and that unsettled him, reminded him far too much of his father.

“Sebastian, look at me”

Slowly Colonel Sebastian Moran lifted his head and let his own gaze meet Moriarty’s own.  In the seven months he had been of service to the professor, Moran had been loyal and dutiful, never before had he disregarded a direct order that is until now.

“I cannot let this whole incident go by unpunished, you assaulted Dr John H Watson, luckily for us all he is unaware of who attacked him the other night.  I cannot have Sherlock Holmes snooping in my affairs at the moment, it is bad enough that he is making connections that no one else has before”

“Let me kill him professor, just let me loose on him” now Moran paced, gesturing as he talked, his face growing increasingly red as his tiger like temper flared

“Why the hell do you think I went after that bloody doctor, we need to take them out NOW, not later when they have their hands on sodding evidence that can lead them to me or to you, but then you are the sly one, nothing ever leads to you does it Moriarty, it only ever leads to those of us who work under you”.

Moran paused for a moment before continuing his tirade   “You know your problem Moriarty, you have too much respect for that bastard Holmes and his fucking lapdog!”

Suddenly the coiled snake that was Professor James Moriarty struck out and by simply grasping the colonel’s wrists in a certain way, the older and slightly stockier man brought his assassin to his knees

“How dare you take such a tone with me Sebastian, I found you in wasting the gutter and to the gutter I will send you back, remember I made you and I will BREAK you, if I see fit”

He gave both wrists a squeeze to emphasise his words, a simple act that brought forth a torrent of swearing from the younger ex soldier.

“It would appear that my wounded and dangerous tiger needs to be tamed a little more”

Moran’s face was flushed with anger and his eye’s bore deep into Moriarty’s letting the professor know just how much his assassin hated him at that moment.

“There ain’t nothing you can do to me..I’m not afraid of you. I’ve been beaten by my old man, whipped and damn near hung because I wouldn’t put up with fools, I’ve faced a horde of screaming infidels that were baying for English blood, I’ve killed a tiger with nothing but a knife in my hands”

The Colonel, shifted his position and forced himself to stand despite the increase in pain, surprising the professor momentarily who let go of his wrists.

“So what the hell can a fucking professor of mathematics do to me that all the others could not..eh!”  Sebastian Moran prodded Moriarty’s chest in an act of sheer defiance.

Moriarty let his actions speak far louder than any words could as he brought a knee up sharply between the colonels legs, causing Moran to double up in agony, as he fell to his knee’s gasping Moriarty landed a savage punch to the side of his head, knocking Colonel Moran out cold.

It was the professors voice that brought him back to the land of the living, there was something in how Moriarty said his christian name Sebastian, that always caught his attention even when he tried his best to ignore it.

Moran went to rub his aching jaw but found that this particular desire was quite futile due to the fact that he was tied to a chair, he forced open his eyes only to find them covered with a rough black cloth that made his eyes itch.

“Professor?”

Nothing but silence answered him.

“Moriarty, what you playing at?”

“Playing?” Moriarty finally answered “Whatever makes you think I’m playing my dear colonel”

“Fucking untie me now or I swear I’ll-“

“You’ll do what Sebastian” the professor whispered in his ear “You cannot move, you cannot see and you are only able to talk because I have not yet placed a gag in your mouth”

Moran tugged at his bonds and cursed out loud, how on earth could a simple professor be able to tie such knots

“Oh dear…I’m afraid such language will not do” Moriarty half chuckled as he slipped the purposely made gag over Moran’s mouth, securing it tightly

“Now listen to me Sebastian, you will remain like this until I say otherwise…earlier you asked me what I could do to you”

Moriarty ran a hand over Moran’s head, roughing his hair even more than it was.

“You are a wild beast, an animal that needs to be controlled and I will rob you of all you all dear, until you concede to my will and I know that you will obey me to the letter without question”

Moriarty moved back, so Moran could no longer pinpoint where the man was

“As I said you cannot move, you cannot see, you cannot speak, this is what I can do to you Colonel Moran, I can and have rendered you utterly powerless”

Moran tried once more to tug on the bonds that bound him so tightly to the chair, but to no avail.  He then tried to see if the chair he was bound to would move and Moran wasn’t surprised when it wouldn’t but still he continued, he had to do something.  There was no way he was going to give in, to submit, to roll over and let this bloody mathematics professor rub his tummy for him like he was a pet dog.

At the far side of the room well away from the colonel, Moriarty sat studying each and every wasted movement Moran made, a twisted smile on his face

_“Yes, I think you will do Colonel Sebastian Moran…I think I have finally found the perfect killing machine, my very own tiger”_


	2. Chapter 2

For a while, Moran had lost count of how long it was, he continued to pull and tug on the bonds that held him tightly in place.  He did his best to ignore the burning sensation that ran through the muscles in his arm, shoulders and chest.

He would have screamed out in a mixture of pure anger, frustration and if he was truthful to himself, a touch of fear but the carefully placed gag wouldn’t allow it.

He knew Professor Moriarty had played his hand well, to confine him in such a way would eventually wear even him down but as long as he still felt the wooden chair beneath him and the fibres of both the rope and the blindfold chaffing against his skin, not to mention the coolness of the leather gag, he knew he would get through it and then there would be hell to pay.

Yes this was so very confining but his senses were still alert, in fact they were in overdrive.

He gave a slight chuckle to himself as his hearing, the only sense that hadn’t been limited picked up the sound of a soft pencil trailing across paper.

_“Typical”_ Moran thought to himself _“I’m sat here trussed up like an offering to Shiva or Kali and the bloody professor is marking his sodding students work..the bastard”_

After some time the sound of the pencil upon paper died and was replaced by the familiar soft deliberate footfall of Professor Moriarty has he approached his bound and gagged assassin.

“There, it will be so much better for you my dear Sebastian if you cease to struggle”

Moran turned his head the best he could to face where Moriarty’s voice was coming from

“Still being defiant, most men would have at least slumped from exhaustion by now” the professor added with a touch of approval “You have continued this futile attempt to free yourself for several hours, at least four to be more precise”

“Shall we play a game Sebastian?” Moriarty crouched so that he was literally whispering in the colonels ear “Nod if you agree”

Sebastian Moran remained still and silent, he refused to play any sort of game with this madman.  Three thousand pounds or not, it was becoming increasingly apparent that Professor James Moriarty was about as stable as an inmate from St Bethlehem Hospital.

“You think you have a choice, Colonel?”

The rage Moran had been trying to calm, resurfaced once more and he felt his face flush, a family trait that echoed his father and one that he hated.

A loud and unnerving peel of laughter told him that the professor had too noticed the reddening of his cheeks and the slight tinge of pink to his ears, as well as the obvious growing bulge in the colonels trousers

Moriarty made a mental note _“Sebastian Moran finds pain arousing”_

“Ah, my dear Moran…there is your famous or should that be infamous temper rising to the fore, you are so much like your bombastic father.  Would you like a gun to shoot me with or perhaps a knife so you might slip it in between my ribs?”

Again Moriarty laughed and Sebastian Moran physically shuddered at the sound.

Suddenly he felt fingers against his skin and hair as the professor slowly removed the blindfold, Moran kept his eyes tightly closed, unsure of what he would see should he dare open them

“Sebastian, look at me” Moriarty commanded

The Colonel shook his head, his stubborn streak once more getting the better of him.

“Colonel Sebastian Moran, you will open your eyes or I will be forced to open them for you”

Sebastian Moran looked up and blinked hard, fighting back tears.  Of all the things Moriarty had said or even done, comparing him to Sir Augustus Moran hurt more than anything. He was nothing like his father, he hated everything that his old man stood for and represented.

And yet, Professor Moriarty commanded him now very much like his father had commanded him in his formative years, this both puzzled and annoyed him.

He was his own man…..wasn’t he?

Moriarty ran a finger over Sebastian’s eyes and wiped away an errant tear.

“Sebastian, do you fear me?” his voice had lost that touch of madness that it had carried with it moments before.

Moran shrugged the best he could, he wasn’t sure of anything at that time, apart from how painful his shoulders felt.  He knew it would be weeks before he would be able to fire a rifle again, what use would he be then to the professor.

As this thought crossed his mind, the colour drained from his face…that had to be it

The professor wouldn’t be needing him again, that is why he was toying with him..playing with him like a cat would a mouse.

Panic seized him and he started to struggle again, he had to break free..that was his only chance, to break free and kill the professor.

But then, what would he do?

Words spoken or rather shouted at him by his father came back to the forefront of his mind

“Sebastian, you are an utter disgrace to myself and this family…you boy, will amount to nothing”

Moran whimpered has the memories he had buried so well came flooding back

“My dear, why do you continue to protect that boy..he is insolent, nothing more than a jumped up guttersnipe who refuses to obey any commands given to him”

“Augustus, he is your son..you should not treat him like you do, try being Sebastian’s father for once and not this drunken monster you have become”

Sebastian shivered has he heard the hard slap his father had given his mother, it was not the first slap but it was the last that was aimed at her at least.  In his mind a young boy, no more than 14 ran forward and confronted the beast that stood hovering over the mother he loved and worshiped.

“Don’t you dare hit her..you bastard, you are nothing but a coward why don’t you hit someone who will hit you back..or aren’t you man enough”

The tears flowed freely now and Professor Moriarty stood transfixed as he watch Colonel Moran slowly break down before him.

Moran clearly remembered the volley of blows that his father had rained down upon him, and despite his own best efforts, which incidentally only seemed to fuel his fathers rage.  When he had finally succumbed to his father ferocity and had fallen to the floor, Sir Augustus ignored the pleadings of his wife and took a belt to his son and thrashed him until Sebastian had passed out, bloodied and bruised.

It was then that he had decided, it was either join the army or end up hanging for the murder of his father.

The day he had finally left, his father who was drunk as usual stood in the library and spoke words that the professor had involuntarily echoed earlier

“You will never be a gentleman or an officer…you might wear the uniform Sebastian but you lack the bearing. One day I know you will either hang or they will find your body floating in the gutter like the detritus you are…I won’t wish you well boy, I am simply relieved that I will no longer be reminded of your departed mother”

Lost in his memories Moran clenched his fists and managed to growl

“Sebastian?” Professor Moriarty whispered as he gently touched his cheek

If the professor had struck him with a branding iron the effect could not have been more startling, Sebastian Moran’s eye’s grew wide and wild and his entire body tensed against the ropes that bound him, ropes that threatened to snap under this latest effort.

“No Moran, you will hurt yourself..sit down” Moriarty used his own strength to force the colonel back against the chair, a task he found surprising difficult.

But Moran was having none of it, driven insane by memories he had buried for so long and pushed over the edge by the actions of Professor Moriarty. Colonel Sebastian Moran leapt at whatever demon he was trying to destroy and unfortunately for Moriarty that meant him.

Broken strands of rope hung from Moran’s tattered clothing while rivulets of blood teamed from the numerous cuts that now marked the crazed assassins, the gag though the professor noted was still firmly in place.

Luckily for the professor, Moran was too exhausted to do any real damage, the surge of energy the man had felt had all but left him as they both hit the floor hard and it did not take long before Moriarty managed to use his own strength to pin the distressed colonel beneath him.

“Moran, if you calm down…I will remove the gag and then we can talk”

Moran nodded gently, so the professor leant forward his own body pressing against the colonels as he slowly and carefully removed the gag.

“There, much better” Moriarty mumbled as he lifted himself up but kept Moran pinned under him.

Colonel Moran lay panting beneath him as he regained his composer, his face and eyes were reddened, his mousey hair tussled and matted with a mix of blood and sweat as was his beard. He held his lips slightly apart as his tongue sort to moisten them.

Suddenly the professor started to feel a warmth spread over his cheeks as he gazed down at the slightly younger and slimmer man, it took him a few seconds to realise that he too was growing hard.  
 _  
“What an interesting development”_ Professor James Moriarty thought to himself


End file.
